How the Google Ads ad approval review works (in plain English)
Every time you create a new ad (or edit an existing one), Google Ads runs an approval review before the ad can serve. In most accounts, most ads clear review within one business day, but anything that looks higher-risk (regulated industries, sensitive claims, unclear landing pages, identity concerns, unusual formatting, etc.) can take longer and may trigger additional checks.
What surprises many advertisers is that this isn’t only a “spellcheck for your headline.” The review evaluates your full ad experience: the text, any images/video, your keywords in context, your destination (final URL and what it resolves to), and sometimes broader account and business trust signals. Reviews can also happen again later, even if an ad previously ran, because policy enforcement includes re-reviews when systems detect changes or new risk signals.
What Google Ads actually reviews (the full scope)
During approval, the system reviews the content in your ad and assets (headlines, descriptions, images, video), the keywords and targeting context the ad is associated with, and the destination you send users to. The review process uses a combination of automated detection and human evaluation, and it can factor in a wide set of signals—ranging from what’s in the ad and on the website to account-level behavior, user complaints, consumer feedback, and even external risk indicators (for example, regulatory actions in certain verticals).
Once the review finishes, your ad typically lands in one of a few practical outcomes: it can run normally, it can be limited (allowed but restricted by location/age/device/format), or it can’t run because something is disapproved or missing (like required verification or certification).
What Google Ads checks during ad approval (and what commonly fails)
1) Policy compliance in ad content: what you say and how you say it
First, Google Ads checks whether your ad is promoting something that’s prohibited outright or restricted with conditions. This includes categories like counterfeit goods, dangerous products/services, and content that enables dishonest behavior. It also includes “inappropriate content” standards—ads and destinations that promote hate, harassment, exploitation, or violence (or that contain shocking imagery or language) are not allowed.
Then there’s the big bucket that causes the most confusion: deceptive or misleading experiences. The Misrepresentation family of checks looks for issues like unclear or dishonest pricing, clickbait tactics, unreliable claims (including “too good to be true” promises framed as likely outcomes), misleading ad design that tries to trick users into clicking, and offers that are advertised but hard to find or not actually available once the user lands.
2) Editorial and formatting checks: “professional” ads still matter
Google Ads also evaluates whether your ad is clear and professional. In practice, this means your copy should read like a legitimate business message, not a gimmick. Excessive capitalization, repeated punctuation, odd spacing, symbol stuffing, or intentionally misspelled terms can trigger disapprovals—especially when the formatting looks like it’s trying to bypass policy detection.
A key modern enforcement theme is “evasive ad content” and related circumventing behaviors. If your ad components (text, images, domains/subdomains, characters) appear manipulated to evade review—such as hiding problematic terms with lookalike characters, invisible Unicode characters, or deliberate misspellings—approval becomes much harder and the account risk increases over time.
3) Destination requirements: the landing page is reviewed as much as the ad
A large percentage of disapprovals come from the destination rather than the ad text. Google Ads checks that your final URL works reliably, is crawlable by ad crawlers, and matches what the ad suggests.
Common failure patterns include “destination mismatch,” where the display URL domain doesn’t match the final URL domain, redirects take users to a different domain, or tracking templates/URL expansions resolve to meaningfully different content than the final URL. Another frequent issue is “destination not crawlable,” which happens when crawlers can’t access your landing page content (often due to server rules, login gates, blocked bots, or inconsistent behavior by location/device). “Destination not working” typically comes down to HTTP errors or pages that don’t function properly when crawled. And “insufficient original content” can apply when the destination is built primarily to show ads, largely replicates content from elsewhere without unique value, exists mainly to funnel users to other sites, or is simply unclear/incoherent.
4) Verification and certification checks: approval isn’t just about the ad
More advertisers are running into approvals being limited because of verification requirements. Advertiser verification can be required as part of broader transparency and trust efforts, and accounts may see restricted serving (or even account pausing in certain scenarios) until verification is completed by the stated deadline. Verification timelines vary by task, but it’s normal for reviews of submitted info to take several business days, and rare cases can take longer.
On top of advertiser verification, some industries require additional applications/certifications to advertise at all (and these requirements can vary by location). Gambling-related advertising and many healthcare-related categories are common examples. If you’re in a regulated category, assume approval depends on both policy compliance and the right certifications tied to the right domains and targeting locations.
5) “Eligible (limited)” isn’t a rejection—it's a distribution restriction
Not every “problem” is a disapproval. Many ads are allowed but restricted, meaning they can only show in certain locations, to certain ages, on certain devices, or in certain placements. This commonly happens in regulated categories (for example, alcohol, gambling, healthcare) and can also happen when your site content contains terms associated with regulated industries—even if your actual offer is compliant. The practical impact is that your ad may be approved, but reach and volume will be constrained by policy.
Best practices to get ads approved faster (and keep them approved)
Pre-flight checklist (the few items that prevent most disapprovals)
- Make the domain story consistent: your display URL, final URL, and any redirects/tracking should resolve cleanly to the same domain and the same intent.
- Make the landing page crawler-friendly: avoid blocking crawlers, avoid location-based blocks that prevent access, and ensure the page loads and functions without errors on common devices.
- Align ad claims to on-page proof: if the ad promises pricing, availability, qualifications, outcomes, or “official” status, the landing page must clearly support it without fine-print tricks.
- Keep copy clean and professional: limit excessive punctuation/caps, avoid symbol gimmicks, and never use character tricks or misspellings to “sneak past” policy checks.
- Handle verification early: if your category is regulated (or your account is prompted), complete advertiser verification and any required industry applications before scaling spend.
What to do if your ad is disapproved (a process that works)
Start by looking at the ad’s status and policy details inside the account, because the label usually tells you whether the issue is the ad text, an asset, the destination, or missing certification/verification. If your ad has been under review for more than two full working days, it’s worth checking status details more closely; if it’s been over a week, you’re typically in “needs help” territory.
When you’re ready to fix it, make the smallest change that truly resolves the violation (often it’s a landing page or URL/tracking correction, not a copy rewrite). Then request a review through the appeal workflow. Appeals generally work best when you pick the reason that matches reality: use the “made changes” path when you updated the site/ad to comply, and use the “dispute” path when you believe the decision is incorrect. Be disciplined: repeated rapid-fire appeals can slow you down, and each ad has a limited number of appeal attempts before additional steps are required.
A final expert tip: design approvals for scale, not for a single ad
The fastest way to stop living in approval limbo is to standardize your compliance: use one clean domain strategy, one consistent business identity, and landing pages that clearly explain what you do, what it costs, and how a user can take action. Google Ads approvals reward clarity. The more your ads and site look like a transparent, dependable business experience, the fewer surprises you’ll see—and the more confidently you can launch new campaigns without delays.
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
When Google Ads reviews an ad for approval, it’s looking at the entire “ad experience,” not just the text: policy compliance (prohibited/restricted content and misrepresentation), editorial quality (spelling, capitalization, formatting), and destination requirements (working, crawlable URLs, no deceptive redirects, and a landing page that clearly supports the ad’s claims). It also factors in broader trust signals like advertiser verification and any required certifications for regulated industries, and even approved ads can be re-reviewed later or marked “Eligible (limited)” with reduced reach. If you want a steadier way to catch common issues—like destination mismatches, thin landing pages, or copy that triggers editorial flags—Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and runs specialized AI agents that surface prioritized, ready-to-apply recommendations across keywords, ads, and landing page alignment, while you stay in control of what gets changed and where.
How the Google Ads ad approval review works (in plain English)
Every time you create a new ad (or edit an existing one), Google Ads runs an approval review before the ad can serve. In most accounts, most ads clear review within one business day, but anything that looks higher-risk (regulated industries, sensitive claims, unclear landing pages, identity concerns, unusual formatting, etc.) can take longer and may trigger additional checks.
What surprises many advertisers is that this isn’t only a “spellcheck for your headline.” The review evaluates your full ad experience: the text, any images/video, your keywords in context, your destination (final URL and what it resolves to), and sometimes broader account and business trust signals. Reviews can also happen again later, even if an ad previously ran, because policy enforcement includes re-reviews when systems detect changes or new risk signals.
What Google Ads actually reviews (the full scope)
During approval, the system reviews the content in your ad and assets (headlines, descriptions, images, video), the keywords and targeting context the ad is associated with, and the destination you send users to. The review process uses a combination of automated detection and human evaluation, and it can factor in a wide set of signals—ranging from what’s in the ad and on the website to account-level behavior, user complaints, consumer feedback, and even external risk indicators (for example, regulatory actions in certain verticals).
Once the review finishes, your ad typically lands in one of a few practical outcomes: it can run normally, it can be limited (allowed but restricted by location/age/device/format), or it can’t run because something is disapproved or missing (like required verification or certification).
What Google Ads checks during ad approval (and what commonly fails)
1) Policy compliance in ad content: what you say and how you say it
First, Google Ads checks whether your ad is promoting something that’s prohibited outright or restricted with conditions. This includes categories like counterfeit goods, dangerous products/services, and content that enables dishonest behavior. It also includes “inappropriate content” standards—ads and destinations that promote hate, harassment, exploitation, or violence (or that contain shocking imagery or language) are not allowed.
Then there’s the big bucket that causes the most confusion: deceptive or misleading experiences. The Misrepresentation family of checks looks for issues like unclear or dishonest pricing, clickbait tactics, unreliable claims (including “too good to be true” promises framed as likely outcomes), misleading ad design that tries to trick users into clicking, and offers that are advertised but hard to find or not actually available once the user lands.
2) Editorial and formatting checks: “professional” ads still matter
Google Ads also evaluates whether your ad is clear and professional. In practice, this means your copy should read like a legitimate business message, not a gimmick. Excessive capitalization, repeated punctuation, odd spacing, symbol stuffing, or intentionally misspelled terms can trigger disapprovals—especially when the formatting looks like it’s trying to bypass policy detection.
A key modern enforcement theme is “evasive ad content” and related circumventing behaviors. If your ad components (text, images, domains/subdomains, characters) appear manipulated to evade review—such as hiding problematic terms with lookalike characters, invisible Unicode characters, or deliberate misspellings—approval becomes much harder and the account risk increases over time.
3) Destination requirements: the landing page is reviewed as much as the ad
A large percentage of disapprovals come from the destination rather than the ad text. Google Ads checks that your final URL works reliably, is crawlable by ad crawlers, and matches what the ad suggests.
Common failure patterns include “destination mismatch,” where the display URL domain doesn’t match the final URL domain, redirects take users to a different domain, or tracking templates/URL expansions resolve to meaningfully different content than the final URL. Another frequent issue is “destination not crawlable,” which happens when crawlers can’t access your landing page content (often due to server rules, login gates, blocked bots, or inconsistent behavior by location/device). “Destination not working” typically comes down to HTTP errors or pages that don’t function properly when crawled. And “insufficient original content” can apply when the destination is built primarily to show ads, largely replicates content from elsewhere without unique value, exists mainly to funnel users to other sites, or is simply unclear/incoherent.
4) Verification and certification checks: approval isn’t just about the ad
More advertisers are running into approvals being limited because of verification requirements. Advertiser verification can be required as part of broader transparency and trust efforts, and accounts may see restricted serving (or even account pausing in certain scenarios) until verification is completed by the stated deadline. Verification timelines vary by task, but it’s normal for reviews of submitted info to take several business days, and rare cases can take longer.
On top of advertiser verification, some industries require additional applications/certifications to advertise at all (and these requirements can vary by location). Gambling-related advertising and many healthcare-related categories are common examples. If you’re in a regulated category, assume approval depends on both policy compliance and the right certifications tied to the right domains and targeting locations.
5) “Eligible (limited)” isn’t a rejection—it's a distribution restriction
Not every “problem” is a disapproval. Many ads are allowed but restricted, meaning they can only show in certain locations, to certain ages, on certain devices, or in certain placements. This commonly happens in regulated categories (for example, alcohol, gambling, healthcare) and can also happen when your site content contains terms associated with regulated industries—even if your actual offer is compliant. The practical impact is that your ad may be approved, but reach and volume will be constrained by policy.
Best practices to get ads approved faster (and keep them approved)
Pre-flight checklist (the few items that prevent most disapprovals)
- Make the domain story consistent: your display URL, final URL, and any redirects/tracking should resolve cleanly to the same domain and the same intent.
- Make the landing page crawler-friendly: avoid blocking crawlers, avoid location-based blocks that prevent access, and ensure the page loads and functions without errors on common devices.
- Align ad claims to on-page proof: if the ad promises pricing, availability, qualifications, outcomes, or “official” status, the landing page must clearly support it without fine-print tricks.
- Keep copy clean and professional: limit excessive punctuation/caps, avoid symbol gimmicks, and never use character tricks or misspellings to “sneak past” policy checks.
- Handle verification early: if your category is regulated (or your account is prompted), complete advertiser verification and any required industry applications before scaling spend.
What to do if your ad is disapproved (a process that works)
Start by looking at the ad’s status and policy details inside the account, because the label usually tells you whether the issue is the ad text, an asset, the destination, or missing certification/verification. If your ad has been under review for more than two full working days, it’s worth checking status details more closely; if it’s been over a week, you’re typically in “needs help” territory.
When you’re ready to fix it, make the smallest change that truly resolves the violation (often it’s a landing page or URL/tracking correction, not a copy rewrite). Then request a review through the appeal workflow. Appeals generally work best when you pick the reason that matches reality: use the “made changes” path when you updated the site/ad to comply, and use the “dispute” path when you believe the decision is incorrect. Be disciplined: repeated rapid-fire appeals can slow you down, and each ad has a limited number of appeal attempts before additional steps are required.
A final expert tip: design approvals for scale, not for a single ad
The fastest way to stop living in approval limbo is to standardize your compliance: use one clean domain strategy, one consistent business identity, and landing pages that clearly explain what you do, what it costs, and how a user can take action. Google Ads approvals reward clarity. The more your ads and site look like a transparent, dependable business experience, the fewer surprises you’ll see—and the more confidently you can launch new campaigns without delays.
